Feliz Navidad - The Quilt

Thirteen months after it was started,

Feliz Navidad is now finished.

The last time I shared this project

was November 2019 when I sewed the top

and pieced the scrappy back.

Quilted with liberated 

free motion oversized orange peels

using Glide thread in Light Tan.

The multiple panels worked beautifully for the back.

Finished size 48" x 64"

I elected to use black and white for the binding.

Actually, I used three different 

leftover black and white bindings.

(evenly spaced stripes, diagonal stripes,

and an unevenly spaced stripe)

It will be grand to pull this one out in early December

and enjoy it all through the Christmas holidays.

Quiltdivajulie

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“A wise old owl sat on an oak; the more he saw the less he spoke; the less he spoke the more he heard; why aren't we like that wise old bird?”

Chinese Proverb

Planning Ahead

Feliz Navidad has been rolled onto pool noodles 

waiting to be pin basted for several weeks now.

Over the weekend, that basting finally happened.

Now to get it quilted . . . 

This is another of the Christmas quilts

that I hope to piece, quilt, and finish this year.

Sleigh Ride was designed with

these 4.5" x 6.5" (cut) rectangles

to make a 48" x 60" lap quilt.

Once the pairs were sewn

I had much the same reaction I did to

the plaids/solids set earlier this year.

Meh.

So I'm in the process of slicing each pair in half.

Four patch rectangles are much more interesting.

Maybe this one will move forward again now.

* * *

I really wanted to share the 

finished quilt top for Copacetic today but

the weather has not been good for outdoor photos.

(sun with high wind or gray with rain)

Hopefully I will have photos to share soon.

Quiltdivajulie

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“When you listen, it's amazing what you can learn. When you act on what you've learned, it's amazing what you can change.”

Audrey Mclaughlin

Short Term Goals

These three placemats are first on my list

of projects to complete sooner instead of later.

(younger son has been waiting patiently

for quite a while . . . )

I haven't quilted much of anything since 

early October due to the painful left knee

(which is doing better - 

not like new, but definitely improved)

so these were my first sit down with Max since the injection.

Given the way things felt that night and the day after,

I need to quilt in short sessions 

with plenty of stretching and time in between.

(I use my left foot for Max's foot pedal -

I've tried working him right-footed 

but my finesse and control aren't as good -

I think I need to work on that)

Dumpster Diving 7 - Respite is ready for 

the purple width-of-quilt sections to be sewn together 

and attached to the green/turquoise bands.

(I'm doing my piecing sewing using my right foot)

And then there are borders to add

and a scrappy squares back to be

laid out and sewn together.

There's no big rush to quilt this one,

thankfully.

Feliz Navidad is rolled onto the pool noodles

ready for batting and pin basting.

I really want to quilt it before 

the end of the month or sooner

if at all possible.

Eira is now ready to be rolled onto pool noodles

and pin basted - another one I would love

to finish by the end of December.

Bemused is the table topper planned for January.

These clipped strips are ready to be sewn into

sixteen patches for a 64" square postage stamp top.

I'm pretty sure I can get it pieced by the end of the month

but I don't know if I'll get it quilted before January 1st.

If Bemused is finished by mid-January, I'll be happy.

For the Birds is still ready for 

the blocks to be sewn together.

The pieces and parts are ready to assemble the borders.

I'd like to move this one along 

so I can empty the design wall

before it is time to lay out Bemused's blocks.

Maybe Santa will bring me 

a few extra hours this month?

Quiltdivajulie

Feliz Navidad - the Flimsy AND Back

I started this quilt late in 2018.

The blocks were completed in December '18 and 

have been waiting nearly a year to be sewn together.

At long last they are now a quilt top.

48" x 64"

And while I was at it - I pieced the back.

Three panels with 2.5" strips in between

plus fabric leftover from previous 

Christmas quilt backs.

* * *

After Thanksgiving I plan to get busy

and quilt Feliz Navidad so we can use it

during the upcoming Christmas season.

It feels good to have a "finish"

to share here.

Quiltdivajulie

Holiday Planning

It was time to deal with it . . .

I sorted through the Christmas stash

to clear off the shelf it has occupied

for the past couple of years.

Some of the pieces have already found new homes

while others have been designated as backings.

And then there is the rest . . .

STEP ONE

Feliz Navidad has spent a year

waiting to be sewn together.

I have been stalled because I didn't like

the scrappy conglomeration I had pulled

to use for the back of the quilt.

THAT has now changed.

The still-scrappy back will involve some piecing

but it will not be as scrappy as before.

Goal:  To complete this for use in December.

STEP TWO

Merry and Bright has been planned for over a year.

Intended to be a  table topper for our kitchen,

the design has changed so many times it is ridiculous.

Final decision?

M and B will be a sixteen block zig zag

measuring 64" x 64" - 

the sets of strips are cut and ready to pair,

sew, assemble, and finish

in time to use in December.

STEP THREE

Sleigh Bells will be a simple-to-sew-top 

based on  pairs of Moda Bella red and scrappy greens.

Rectangles were cut at 4.5" x 6.5"

Backing fabrics are chosen and waiting.

Target finish - 2020

STEP FOUR

Jingle Bells will feature die cut 6" HSTs.

The neutrals are ready to run through the die cutter.

The scrappy reds and greens need a good pressing

and then they, too, can be die cut.

Backing is chosen and waiting.

Target finish - 2020

STEP FIVE

And then there is Deck the Halls.

This was going to be a log cabin 

made with 2.5" strips.

But I changed my mind.

Instead it will feature 

scrappy red snowballs

and scrappy green nine patches

with a multitude of light neutrals.

Backing is chosen and waiting.

Target finish - 2020 

These are the five project boxes

and the five file folders with design notes, etc.

It feels good to have these sorted out.

And with the pieces counted and cut, 

I'll be far less tempted to waste any more time

changing my mind about possible designs.

AND that shelf is nearly empty now.

* * *

This week has been take-in and set up for this year's

Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Art Show.

The show runs Friday - Saturday - Sunday from 10A to 4P.

If you are in the Memphis metro area,

come see us!

Quiltdivajulie

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“It is a happiness to wonder; it is a happiness to dream.”

Edgar Allen Poe

Overdue Times Three

Partly Sunny has been clipped and ready

to assemble for a month.

Feliz Navidad has been that way even longer.

Luminous is also waiting patiently.

* * *

It is time to sit and sew these together.

I really need to stop procrastinating

(by working on projects that are more fun)

and get these projects sewn together

along with the double four-patch 

(top and back)

shared in the previous post.

One thing at a time.

Quiltdivajulie

Seasonal Scraps

In that same now-emptied project box, 

were these bits and pieces from 

Dumpster Diving IV - The Christmas Edition

and Feliz Navidad. 

With a bit of stitching and trimming,

they became this scrappy slab.

The slab was squared up into a rectangle

and prepared for quilting.

The finished piece measures 11" wide x 22.25" long.

Quilted with Glide thread in Apple

using long liberated wavy lines.

A bit of leftover red and white striped binding finished it off.

Four scrappy squares from the making of

The Kitchen Door quilt turned into this 8" x 8" mug mat.

Backed with the last of this loud but fun print

and bound with the last of this leftover binding.

Quilted with Glide thread in Apple

using Leah Day's super wobble approach.

* * *

Four scrappy projects finished

with one more to share on Friday.

The remaining scraps in the box

have been sorted into eight color groups

and will be used to make my

Instructor Showcase sample

for my JCCFS class in September.

Yes!

Quiltdivajulie

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From Dictionary.com -- REIMAGINE (verb)
"to reinterpret (an event, work of art, etc.) imaginatively; rethink."

December Wrap Up

Early in the month, 

I stitched my Colorwash 360

class project quilt top together.

I also quilted and bound Marathon,

and even added a sleeve and label.

On a whim I pulled fabrics from my resource boxes

inspired by the colors chosen by Bonnie Hunter

for her 2018 mystery quilt named Good Fortune.

(let's all say it together -- SQUIRREL)

In the weeks since that fabric pull,

I've changed my mind about how I plan to use them

which should come as no surprise

to those of you who know me.

I am not going to die cut half rectangles.

Instead, this will be the fabric pull for 

my first quilt of Sujata Shah's 

Uncommon and Unconventional Quilt Along.

(nicknamed the U&UQA)

I'm looking forward to our January 7th start.

Feliz Navidad moved from fabric pull 

to pieced blocks ready to be webbed together.

As I pieced those sixteen patches,

I also stitched quite a few pairs of squares

for one of several leader-ender projects

prepped for next year - all designed to 

use my over-abundant stash of 2.5" strips

that have accumulated over the years.

And in the space of two weeks,

I conceived, designed, pieced, quilted, bound,

and gifted Busy Town to Little Man.

You can read that story here.

Now that I have a new plan for the BH fabric pull,

I've shifted the half-rectangles idea

 to THIS fabric pull featuring 

fabrics from Needle & Thread and my stash.  

AND I finally finished up the current 

AHIQ Maps and Mapping Challenge.

You can read my last few posts using the links below:

Years 11 and 12 (2014-2015)

Year 13 (2016)

Year 14 (2017)

Year 15 (2018)

I'm curious to see what the 

next AHIQ challenge will be.

* * *

I've also been thinking about

what I want to work on in 2019.

I'll be back to share those ideas on January 1st.

Quiltdivajulie